World awaits financial bailout vote

Will amendments to the original plan force a change in position among US politicians?

Have market reactions caused US politicians to change their position on the bailout plan?[GALLO/GETTY]

There is cautious optimism that a revised version of the $700bn US banking rescue plan will be approved by US politicians.

But as it emerges that the new force in finance is the government, politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties, who rejected the initial Paulson plan, feel that the American voter deserves better.

Yet the latest market tremors and their warning signals push, as George Bush, the US president, says, for immediate action.

Is it the severe market reactions or the substantial amendments to the plan that have forced the change in position among politicians who rejected the initial plan? Or is this a case of lessons being learnt?